Image: Foremost Media.

It was a third-straight overall victory for Troy Herfoss in the 2023 Mi-Bike Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) and the Penrite Honda Racing rider now leads the championship by 14 points after two race wins at Morgan Park.

Penrite Honda Racing’s Troy Herfoss snatched the championship lead with a thrilling victory in race one at the Warwick-based circuit.

Herfoss moved to the front early ahead of Jones, with DesmoSport Ducati’s Broc Pearson dropping to P9 on the opening lap from the front row.

The leading trio of Herfoss, Jones and championship leader Josh Waters (Wickham Freightlines with K-tech McMartin Racing) slowly edged away across the opening five laps, with Glenn Allerton (GT Racing BMW) running P4.

With 11 laps to go, Jones took P1 from Herfoss, with a pair holding a half-second advantage from Waters at the halfway point. It wasn’t long after the Fireblade rider reclaimed the top position, then disaster struck for Waters as he ran off the track at turn one/two, rejoining in ninth position.

Jones made a move to the lead once more at turn 11, but Herfoss was able to strike back with a last-lap pass into turn six to ultimately secure the victory by 0.097s from the Yamaha Racing Team rider.

Allerton kept his nose clean to take third, 6.052s from P1 as Cru Halliday (Yamaha Racing Team) was fourth and Broc Pearson was able to recover to fifth.

MotoGO Yamaha’s Bryan Staring finished sixth, ahead of Anthony West (Addicted to Track Yamaha), Arthur Sissis (Unitech Racing), Waters and Ted Collins (Livson Racing) inside the top 10. GTR MotoStars Yamaha rider Max Stauffer fell in the early stages at turn four.

Herfoss got the holeshot in race two, with Pearson making a much better start this time out to slot into P2 but was relegated to fourth by the end of lap one by Allerton and Jones.

With 11 laps to go Jones made a move past Allerton into turn 10, closing down the buffer Herfoss had built the following time round with a new race lap record of a 1m12.251s, before making his way past the number 17 as the encounter approached the halfway point.

Herfoss stayed on the tail of Jones until retaking the lead approaching the final four laps, but Jones fought back to head the field entering the final lap.

A moment from YRT rider at turn nine on the last lap allowed Herfoss to capitalise and ultimately secure the overall with two race victories. Allerton held off a spirited charge from Pearson to take third, with Waters completing the top five behind the young Queensland-based rider.

In P6 was Halliday, as Staring, West, Sissis and Stauffer featured inside the top 10. Consistent scores from Herfoss, Jones and Allerton saw them complete the top three overall at round five, with Herfoss now holding a 14-point lead ahead of Waters with two rounds remaining in the 2023 ASBK championship.

Detailed results